Right By Your Side
by Legitly Spelunking
Summary: Victor had a full day planned for him and Yuuri on Valentines day, but he instead ends up in bed with a bad cold and Yuuri looks after him. Takes place some time after episode 12 in St. Petersburg.


**Summary:**

Victor had a full day planned for him and Yuuri on Valentine's Day, but he instead ends up in bed with a bad cold and Yuuri looks after him. Takes place some time after episode 12 in St. Petersburg.

* * *

The sound of Yuuri's applause filled the empty St. Petersburg rink as Victor struck his finishing pose, having just finished a final run through of his free program. The two had been at the rink since morning and had finally decided to call it a day after a grueling training session. Yuuri waited outside the rink for his fiance, who was currently breathing rather heavily. His concerned was further piqued as he coughed a couple of times. He'd been coughing quite a bit today, now that Yuuri thought about.

"You alright?" he called out.

"Must have overexerted myself a bit too much," Victor panted. "I guess my body's not what it used to be. Sorry my stamina's not up to your standards," he joked.

"That may be, but your performance certainly is," he retorted.

Having caught his breath, the Russian made his way to the bench where Yuuri sat untying his skates. He joined him and did the same as he spoke. "I'm so excited for tomorrow! This is the first time in a long time that I actually have a date for Valentine's day," he said.

"And a first for me," Yuuri remarked.

"Well I'll make sure it's the best! Don't bother setting an alarm, I'll wake you up. And from there on in, I got a whole list of things we can do together, although I'm not gonna tell you what; it's a surprise!" He flashed Yuuri a grin which the man couldn't help but return. "We'll take the whole day! And after that…" He leaned and whispered into Yuuri's ear and the black-haired skater blushed a light pink at their closeness, and then a deeper scarlet at what was suggested. Victor smiled flirtatiously and moved his head further down to Yuuri's neck where his nose brushed the skin and Yuuri lets out a small yelp at the contact as he backed away. "Victor, your nose is cold!"

"Sorry, sorry," he laughed apologetically. He stood and offered a hand to his fiance. "Let's go home. Big day tomorrow." Yuuri accepted the hand and nodded enthusiastically and grabbed the rest of their things before heading out.

* * *

The next morning, Yuuri was awoken with a slap to the face. Well, it wasn't actually a slap, just a hand suddenly splayed across his face with a bit more force than he had been expecting. To a sleeping Yuuri, the two felt the same. "Ow, Victor. That hurt," he complained as he registered the hand's owner. It was heavy and didn't move from its position, so Yuuri brushed it off with his own. As he did so, he registered the other's skin seemed warmer than usual. Warmer than it should be. "Victor?" he questioned as he sat up. The man in question was unconscious, sprawled out on his side of the bed though taking up a good portion of Yuuri's side as well. Various limbs stuck out of the blanket and his face appeared flushed and when Yuuri brought a hand to his forehead, it was hot to the touch and beaded with sweat. "Victor?" he tried again and gently shook him to wake him up.

The normally piercing blue orbs were now glossed over as Victor opened his eyes. "Yuuri?" His voice was thick with sleep. "Why are you up before I am? I told you I'd wake you up. What time is it now?"

"That doesn't matter. Are you feeling okay? You feel really warm and I think you have a fever."

He ignored Yuuri's words as he fumbled for his phone. The bright light caused him to squint as it hurt his eyes, but he registered the time. "Oh, no! We're late!" He quickly shot up in bed, though regretted the movement a second later as he cradled his head in his hand and groaned.

"Victor, you're sick and need to rest," Yuuri stated firmly.

"No, I can't be sick. Not today. I had so much planned." He coughed, and it sounded dry and painful. "We were supposed to be having breakfast at a restaurant right now. I made reservations and everything," he complained as he nursed his headache.

"Lay back down. I'll take care of you," Yuuri soothed and Victor didn't object as he was pushed gently so he was laying on his back. The pillows embraced him and he squeezed his eyes shut and covered them with a hand and let out another groan.

"God, my head hurts. And I'm too hot." More of his limbs from freed themselves from the blanket as if to prove his point. He heard the bed creak as Yuuri stood.

"I'll get you some medicine. And a thermometer. Stay here, okay?" Victor couldn't even think about moving, dread filling his body at the thought. Automatically, he nodded in response to Yuuri then winced as his head throbbed in protest. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Yuuri browsed through the medicine cabinet desperately looking for anything that would help Victor. He assumed-hoped-this was just a common cold. He had noticed Victor seemed a bit off at practice yesterday, but thought nothing of it at the time. He had been running out of breath too easily, and the occasional cough would reach Yuuri's ears, and every time he reached for his plush poodle, his nose was tinted a deeper shade of red. He had said it was all just exhaustion from training, but that obviously wasn't the case. Yuuri huffed in frustration as he turned over the bottle in his hand. His Russian was decent enough to hold a passable conversation, but he had yet to sit down and learn the written language. Just as luck would have it, all of the medications were written in Cyrillic. The labels mocked him and he continued to stare at them, as if hoping the foreign characters would suddenly start making sense but to no avail. He grabbed a couple of them anyway, along with a thermometer and a box of tissues and made his way back to the bedroom.

He had not been gone for five minutes, but Victor had already fallen back asleep. Yuuri placed the objects down on the bedside table, careful not to disturb the man as he rested. Even in sleep and a thin layer of sweat from the sickness, his fiance still somehow managed to look so effortlessly breathtaking. Silver hair was spread out rather ungracefully over the pillow and stray stands stuck to the moist skin on his face. He breathed through his mouth, his nose likely too congested, and Yuuri noticed his breath was coming in short pants. He had the blanket held loosely in one of his hands and it was brought up to his chin, though his legs were still left uncovered, the bare skin exposed by the shorts he wore. Yuuri didn't want to wake him. Consciousness did not seem pleasant for him at the moment and Yuuri knew sleep would help him recover. However, he disregarded this with the knowledge that knowing exactly what he was dealing with and what type of medicine he would need to use took precedence over his comfort. He nudged Victor awake and his eyelids fluttered opened.

"Yuuri…" He struggled to get even that simple word out before coughing again.

"Hey," Yuuri spoke gently as he caressed Victor's face who leaned into the cool touch with a weak smile. "I need to take your temperature. Also I can't read much Russian, so you're gonna have to tell me what medication you need. First, though, how are you feeling?"

"Terrible." He grimaced at the sound of his voice. "Head's killing me, too warm, sore throat, sore all over."

"Here," Yuuri said as he held the thermometer and Victor obediently opened his mouth. "So which medication should I use?" Yuuri asked and Victor opened his eyes, though he didn't remember closing them in the first place. He scanned the labels and spoke around the device in his mouth. "Orange lid is a fever reducer, the drowsy kind. That there is a general pain killer, the one next to it is for nausea-which I don't have, and the last one is gummy vitamins."

"Do you have any other medications? I didn't see much else in the bathroom cabinet…" He might have to run to the pharmacy and grab some more, though he couldn't bear the thought of leaving Victor home alone like this. If he was going to feel better, Yuuri would have to be there right beside him, so he resolved to spending the day looking after him closely and using whatever else they had on hand in the apartment to do so.

The thermometer beeped rapidly, the sound causing Victor to wince and Yuuri to immediately bring his attention back to the matter at hand. He took the tool from his mouth as he read the numbers. "Definitely a fever. It sounds like you have a cold."

"Great."

"It's really not."

"It's really not," he agreed. He sharply turned his head to the side as he sneezed twice in a row, then shivered, pulling the blanket so it covered more of his body. Overwhelming pity and concern flooded Yuuri as he watched his coach curl into a ball on his side with a repressed whimper. "I'll make you some tea for your throat. Do you feel like eating anything?" he asked, and Victor gave a noise of protest at the thought. Though he wasn't feeling nauseous, he didn't have the appetite or energy to eat. "I'll get you some water," Yuuri said as he left the room, taking the unneeded bottles with him.

In the kitchen, he started preparing the tea. He ran the tap, filling the kettle before beginning to heat the water as he let his thoughts wander. Yuuri couldn't think of the last time he had ever seen Victor in such a state, if he ever had at all. He was so so weak and vulnerable. As a young boy, Yuuri had idolized the man; he had thought he was perfect. After living with him for so long, however, he was eventually forced to accept the fact that he too was human just like Yuuri, with a list of shortcomings and weaknesses all of his own. The Japanese skater had seen many of them, but a sick Victor was new. It was also a bit endearing. He smiled as he filled a glass of water and brought it back to the bedroom.

Victor was still awake when his caretaker returned and he struggled to sit up as he entered the room. Yuuri set the glass down and rushed to help him, gently placing a hand on his back. Even though the t-shirt he wore, Yuuri could feel the skin underneath was still radiating far too much heat. Victor shivered at the contact and closed his eyes with a pained expression when he was finally sitting upright.

"You alright?"

"Just a bit dizzy." The feeling passed after a moment and Victor opened his eyes as Yuuri placed the pills Victor had previously identified into his hand.

"Don't like taking medicine," the gold-medalist grumbled. He sniffled, and with his remaining free hand reached for the box Yuuri had placed on the nightstand earlier. He pulled out a number of tissues and loudly blew his nose into them before tossing them in the general direction of the trash bin where a pile had already begun to accumulate.

"Well you're gonna have to to feel better." Yuuri reasoned as he handed over the water. The Russian frowned at the pills in his hand for a moment before tilting his head back as he dropped them into his mouth and took a swig of water. He managed to get them down on his second try, though he nearly choked on the water causing him to cough painfully and further aggravate the constant pounding in his skull. Both combined were enough to bring tears to his eyes, though he refused to let them fall. Yuuri rubbed a hand over his back until the fit subsided. "Make sure to drink all of the water. Slowly. You need extra liquids when you're sick." Though it hurt his throat to even swallow, Victor managed to do as instructed and handed the empty glass to a satisfied Yuuri who stood up. "Tea should be ready. I'll be right back."

The water had finished boiling, though had cooled just enough to drink and Yuuri added the tea leaves. What else could he do for Victor, he thought? It was Valentine's day after all, so Victor deserved to feel loved, and Yuuri was damn well going to ensure that happened. He thought back to any time he had been sick. What had made him feel better? What could he give to Victor?

Ah, of course!

He turned on the tap again and let it run until the water was cold before grabbing a bowl, filling it up and dropping a face cloth into it. It wasn't much, but it would help. He grabbed both the hot and cold liquids and brought them back to the room, setting the bowl down as he held the steaming beverage out to Victor. "Drink some," Yuuri said and Victor obliged with a small, slow sip. He gave a small nod and hummed in contentment as the liquid effectively soothed his sore throat.

"I hate being sick," he muttered as he felt his eyelids begin to droop. The medicine seemed to be kicking in and Yuuri noticed.

"You should get some rest. I'll stay here in case you need me." He put the tea aside and moved to help him lay down and Victor sighed apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Yuuri. This was not how today was supposed to go."

"Don't worry about it. Just focus on getting better." He brushed silver sweat-soaked bangs away from from his forehead and placed a light kiss there.

"This must be the worst Valentine's day ever," he moped.

"As long as I'm with you, it's the best Valentine's day ever," Yuuri responded sweetly as he reached into the bowl of water. He wrung out the cloth and placed it on Victor's forehead who moaned in relief at the contact.

"That's my line." He sighed affectionately. "You take such good care of me."

"Someone has to," he teased as he carefully dragged the cloth over the rest of Victor's flushed face.

"Mm. Tired," he murmured, eyes already closed.

"Then sleep." Yuuri dipped the cloth in the water again and laid it back on his forehead. He took Victor's too-warm hand in his own and rubbed it soothingly with his thumb before bringing it to his lips. Victor responded with a weak squeeze.

"You'll be here when I wake up?" he asked.

"I'll be here even before you do."

"Mm. Good," Victor said, voice barely a whisper before his breathing evened out.

* * *

 **Notes:**

Yay, I stuck to my 2000-ish limit! Hope you guys enjoyed that. I'm a sucker for sickfics, but I've never written one myself before until now. I'm still a new writer and this is actually the first fic I've ever published, so please let me know if you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading, and happy Valentine's day!


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